Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. Moving on again.
Previously on Across the Kaleidoscope
"Smart Brain, if I recall correctly, is one of the leading manufacturers in electronics."
"At any rate, whatever you do, don't give the case to anybody; not Smart Brain, not your friends, not even yourself."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Fujimaru. You are the representative, correct?"
"Hurry up, don't just sit there gawking."
Smart Brain headquarters…
The sound of knocking on the locked door filled the chairman's office.
"Sir?"
Louder knocks followed along with the doorknob jiggling.
"Sir? Are you alright?"
"Where's the extra key?"
"He keeps it… here."
A few seconds later, the lock clicked and the door swung open. The chairman's secretary and a few security guards stood at the doorway and stared inside the office in shock.
Slumped on the desk was Akaibara Kyouji, blue flames burning on his body. The bodies of the security guards that were on duty were sprawled all over the office, either breaking down into ash or just burning.
"Sir!"
The secretary rushed to the chairman's burning body.
"Urgh…" Surprisingly, the man was barely clinging to life as his skin slowly fell apart.
"What happened?!"
"The Delta Gear…" Akaibara coughed out, "The Delta Gear has been stolen…"
"By who?"
He did not get the chance to answer as he slumped back down and turned to ash…
Chapter 11: The Stolen Belt
The black-and-white Kamen Rider Delta evaded a sword swing before he landed a powerful kick to the Swordfish Orphnoch's stomach.
"As a gunslinger, I shouldn't be fighting close-ranged." Delta could not help but talk as he fought the Orphnoch, "However, I haven't gotten the chance to fight in a long time so let me play around for a bit."
The Swordfish Orphnoch gave no indication of hearing what he said as the ash monster continued to try and slash him. His efforts to hit Delta failed as the Rider expertly dodged every attack. After his foe ducked under another swing of his sword, the Orphnoch felt something pressed against his chest.
A second later, he realized it was the Delta Blaster as he was shot at point-blank range.
"He's… a Kamen Rider too?" Despite her minor disdain for the person who called her an idiot back in the first leg of their journey, Ryoko was still impressed with the way Delta fought.
"Wait, do you know who he is?" Keitaro asked, eyes glued to the new Kamen Rider.
"Yes… Kinda? It's complicated."
"Hate to interrupt you two but my leg's still bleeding out here," Tetsuya gritted his teeth in pain as he tried to slow down the bleeding somewhat.
"Oh! Sorry!"
As the two spectators turned back to help Tetsuya, Delta continued to deal heavy-handed blows to the Swordfish Orphnoch in between bursts of bullets with his gun.
"So," Delta said as he kneed the Orphnoch, "Who sent you after those two? I know that the two who were supposed to be following that stubborn idiot kept an eye on him so where did you come from?"
The Swordfish Orphnoch did not answer as he tried to punch the Rider with his free hand.
"Was it really just a coincidence that they ran into you? That's definitely a strong possibility since this is Faiz's world but I want a straight answer."
Delta tried to shoot his foe once again but no shots were fired out of the Blaster, having used up all its energy already. That left him open to a counterattack that, while not hurting him too much, forced him back.
However, the Rider was planning to pull back a bit as he tossed the Delta Blaster into his right hand and brought it close to his mouthpiece.
"Charge."
The Delta Blaster let out a confirmation sound as it started to recharge, Delta tossing back the gun into his left hand again. The Swordfish Orphnoch did not wait for that though and charged at Delta, trying to impale him on his sword. He dodged it, of course, and in the few seconds it took for the Orphnoch to reach him, the Delta Blaster finished charging.
After lining up the shot, three more bursts of bullets came out of the gun and struck the Swordfish Orphnoch.
"Do you really have nothing to say? Not going to lie, I find that a bit boring," huffed Delta in annoyance. "Whatever then. That just means I have no reason to keep you alive anymore."
The Rider reached down to his belt buckle with his right hand and remove the Mission Memory on it. He then inserted it into a slot on top of the Delta Blaster, causing the barrel to extend out of the gun.
Ready!
Bringing the weapon to his face again and moving his hand out of the way a bit, Delta said into the speaker on the grip, "Check."
Exceed Charge!
Holding the grip with both hands, the black-and-white Kamen Rider took aim at the Swordfish Fangire as a white light quickly traveled from his buckle to the Delta Blaster. Unfettered by the action, the Swordfish Orphnoch once again tried to charge at him. This just ended up making it easier for the final shot to hit as Delta pulled the trigger.
A single white bullet hit the Orphnoch and stunned him, the bullet enlarging and turning into a drill that kept the monster in place.
Delta put his Blaster into a slot on the right side of his belt and took a deep breath. He then leaped into the air and kicked the monster through the holographic drill, the sole of his left foot glowing brightly. The Rider disappeared for a moment and the Orphnoch grunted in pain. The next moment, Delta rematerialized behind him and landed as a white triangle appeared in front of the Orphnoch.
Red flames erupted from the Swordfish Orphnoch's body before he broke down, turning into a burning ash pile.
"That takes care of that…" Delta sighed in relief as he dusted his hands off. He then turned around looked at the three that he saved. "Now, what to do with you guys?"
"Who… who are you?" Tetsuya stuttered, a ripped piece of cloth now wrapped around the large cut in his leg.
"Me? At the moment, who I am doesn't matter," Delta (did not) answered him. "Since you're not really in the condition to be moving, I guess I'll lend a hand."
With a flick of his wrist, Delta summoned an Aurora Curtain in between him and the three.
"Um… What's that?" Keitaro, having not seen a dimensional portal before, had an uneasy feeling about it.
"Wait!"
"See ya." Ryoko's shout went ignored as the Aurora Curtain washed over them and sent them elsewhere.
Now that he was alone, Delta removed the grip of his holstered gun from the main part of the Delta Blaster. The lines of his armor briefly glowed before it disappeared and the cloaked man stood in the middle of the dark tunnel. He stretched his arms out and exhaled loudly, content with what he did.
"That was fun while it lasted," the young man in black said to himself, "But I probably go check up on how he's doing."
He summoned another Aurora Curtain and stepped through it, going off to who knows where.
However, he did not realize that there was someone standing at the end of the tunnel and watching him.
A short time later…
After dealing with the two Orphnochs, Haizuka Takumi, also known as Kamen Rider Faiz, thought it would be best for him to return back to his house to wait for Keitaro to get back. However, he looked behind him to see he was still being followed by the guy he ran into by chance.
"Why are you following me?" He grimaced.
"I'm not following you," Ritsuka denied the accusation, "We just so happen to be going the same way."
"Why don't I believe you?"
"Because you can't trust people apparently," the suited teen dryly remarked, infuriating Takumi a bit.
"You've only known me for half an hour. You can't say something like that to a stranger," Takumi glared at him for a moment.
"Meh." Ritsuka did not acknowledge what Takumi said.
Eventually, the two came to a street that Ritsuka thought looked a bit familiar.
"Wait a minute…" He muttered as Takumi stopped in front of a dry cleaner that was right next to a familiar building. "You've got to be kidding me…"
"Yes, I live and work in a dry-cleaner," grumbled Takumi. He had mistaken Ritsuka's reaction to his current accommodations as a dig towards his financial status. "Unfortunately, moonlighting as a superhero doesn't pay."
"Unlucky you then," Ritsuka said as he walked ten feet to the left to his home. "It was nice meeting you, neighbor."
He quickly entered the house and closed the door behind him before he could hear what Takumi had to say. As he walked down the short hallway to the main room plus kitchen, Ritsuka let out a content sigh and stretched his arms out as best he could within the narrow passageway. He had already done that weird task the world gave him as well as made contact with Kamen Rider Faiz. Now all he has to do is find out what he needs to do to restore the corresponding KamenRide Card's powers.
He opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Tetsuya sleeping in a chair while resting a bandaged leg on top of a legrest. Ryoko was nearby along with a guy Ritsuka did not recognize tending to her scraped knee.
"Oh, look what the cat dragged in," the only girl in the room said when she saw him enter the room with barely-restrained anger. "Where have you been for the past hour?"
"Around," answered Ritsuka, "What happened to you two? And who's he?"
"Can't you sound a bit more concerned about us?" Ryoko sighed. "Ran into… an Orphnoch? We ran into one of those guys while we were looking for you and a friend of Keitaro."
"Um… It's nice to meet you, Ritsuka-san," the guy Ritsuka assumed to be Keitaro said as he got up and wiped his hands before extending them to him, "I'm Kitsuga Keitaro. Your friends have told me all about you and your mission."
"I wouldn't call it a mission, per se…" Ritsuka muttered.
"Keitaro here knows this world's Kamen Rider. He said he can introduce him to you." At least she and Tetsuya got something out of their injuries. That was something Ryoko could pat herself on the back for.
"Unfortunately, it seems he put his phone on silent so we have to-"
"You mean Takumi?" Ritsuka cut Keitaro off, earning a look of surprise from both him and Ryoko. "I already ran into him."
"...Oh, come on!" Ryoko shouted, slightly infuriated at having the one thing she has helped Ritsuka with proven to be meaningless. "How do you just… run into everyone you need to?!"
"It's a gift… I think."
"Grr…" Ryoko grumbled quietly to herself. However, she then remembered there was something else pretty important that Ritsuka needed to know. "Hey, Keitaro. Can you leave us for a moment?"
"Of course, just let me put a band-aid on this for a sec." Once that was done, Keitaro left the room, leaving Ritsuka, Ryoko, and the sleeping Tetsuya by themselves.
"We might have a problem on our hands," Ryoko told her friend as soon as the door closed.
"And that is?"
"You remember we told you about the guy who spoke to us when you went all berzerk on Yuusuke, right?" Ryoko asked and got a nod from Ritsuka. "Well, he appeared again. As in appeared appeared. He saved us from the Orphnoch that attacked us."
"He did what?" Ritsuka could not help but say out loud, getting a raised eyebrow in response. "He actually showed up in front of you two?"
"Three but yes. And get this, he's actually a Kamen Rider from this world," Ryoko said with full confidence and pointed to one of the three belts illustrated on the backdrop. "He had that white belt. That means he's from here, right?"
"..." Ritsuka could not answer. There were just too many thoughts going through his head for him to say anything.
Firstly, outside of opening dimensional walls for him, this was the first time that the annoying man has intervened in anything as far as he knew. Second, he had the Delta Gear for some reason. Did he always have it or did he pick it up somewhere in this world? He can go practically anywhere so it would not be a surprise if it were either of those two options.
"Ritsu?" Ryoko waved her hand in front of his face, bringing him back to the present. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Ritsuka answered a bit too quickly. "Just… did you see what he looked like?"
"No, he was wearing his armor the entire time." Ritsuka had no idea why he felt relieved at that information. "After he killed that monster, he sent us back here with that silver wall."
"I see…"
"Speaking of which, who is he?" Ryoko asked. "Why is he following us?"
"I have no idea either," Ritsuka replied, "Did he say anything to you guys?"
"Hmm…" Ryoko thought about it for a moment before she remembered something, "Well, he said that he hadn't gotten the chance to fight in a long time. He also thought that the Orphnoch was sent after us."
"You two? Why would anyone want to go after you two?"
"We're following you, remember? But it's not like you've made an enemy out of anyone here." She assumed not since they have only been in this world for about two hours. However, the thoughtful look on Ritsuka's face was not a good sign. "You're kidding, right?"
"Well, there was the chairman of Smart Brain," Ritsuka said. "Maybe he had something to do with it. I know he sent two Orphnochs to follow me."
"Right, that guy mentioned that somebody was following a certain stubborn idiot."
"What?" Ritsuka was caught off guard by how casually Ryoko had said that.
"He's not exactly wrong, is he?" Ryoko smirked at him.
"Don't agree with him, please," he pleaded, "Didn't he also call you an idiot or something?"
"Hey, there's no need to bring that up!"
Meanwhile, next door…
Takumi sighed as he entered Kitsugi's Dry Cleaners. He was tired from the search and subsequent fight he got into and wanted to get some rest.
"Hey, Keitaro?! Mari?! You two back yet?!" He shouted but got no response. It seems he was the first one back from their jobs. Granted, he did bail on Keitaro at the start of their delivery rounds but he should be sooner or later.
Going into the living room, he switched on the lights, dropped the Faiz Gear case, crashed onto the couch, and reached for the remote on the short table in front of him. Takumi turned on the television and started skimming through the channels for something good to watch.
"No. No. No. No." Unfortunately, there was nothing good yet on any of his favorite channels. "Whatever, I'll just watch this…"
He left the television on a nature documentary program for a bit and watched it with mild interest.
"As with most wolf species, the Northwestern wolves travel in packs. A pack of Northwestern wolves usually number from 6 to 12."
Takumi yawned as he listened to the narrator and watched a family of wolves on TV.
"...No." He said after a few minutes and began flipping through channels again.
Eventually, he came upon the news channel and was about to switch again until he realized what was on screen.
"Smart Brain?" Takumi recognized the building on the screen and instantly turned up the volume a bit more.
"-airman Akaibara Kyouji was found dead in his office along with several security guards." The news reporter said. "At the moment, investigators believe that the person responsible is a worker of Smart Brain who was dissatisfied with the recent appointment of Akaibara Kyouji as chairman after the disappearance of the founder and previous chairman-"
Takumi did not hear the rest as he had got up and gone back outside.
"You know, the guy's voice sounded familiar." Ryoko told Ritsuka as they continued talking about the person who rescued her and the others, "Even when I heard him back in Yuusuke's world, I felt like I recognized him. I just can't place my finger on it."
"Maybe you ran into him back in our world," Ritsuka suggested before glancing at the lightly snoring Tetsuya, "Did Tetsuya recognize him too?"
"He did, yeah," she nodded. "So it's someone we both know?"
Ritsuka shrugged in response.
"Too bad you've never met. You'd probably figure who he is."
"Right… I probably would…" Ritsuka trailed off. At this point, he has to tell her that the person who saved them had been whispering in his head for the past two and a half years but… Oh, right. It was better to wait until Tetsuya was awake so he could avoid repeating himself. "At any rate, we-"
"Hey, you!"
"Ta-kun?!"
Voices from the other side of the doors interrupted Ritsuka before they opened, revealing Takumi with Keitaro standing behind him. Was he listening in on them?
"Did you do something to that chairman?" Ritsuka had no time to ponder as Takumi immediately accused him of something.
"You have to be a bit more specific," He replied. "What do you mean by something?"
"You have a TV here?" Takumi looked around the room before spotting the small television they were gifted with. "Turn on the news."
"Fine, fine."
"Ta-kun, what's going on?" Keitaro asked his friend as Ritsuka went over to the TV.
"Just wait."
"-ccording to Chairman Akaibara's secretary, an important collection of prototype electronics had been stolen from his office." The reporter spoke on screen.
"Akaibara?" Both Ryoko and Keitaro muttered at the same time before they realized what the news was about.
"Hang on, did something happen at Smart Brain?" The only girl in the room asked.
"Yes," Takumi answered, "Someone broke into the chairman's office and killed him and his bodyguards."
"...Wait, you're blaming me for this?!" Ritsuka turned to Takumi with an incredulous look on his face. "Need I remind you, I was with you!"
"No, I'm not blaming you." Takumi said, "I just find it suspicious that you, someone with a Rider Gear, showed up the same day the chairman got assassinated."
"Again, I was with you."
"Well, you did disappear on us right after we met up with the chairman." Ryoko pointed out before quickly adding, "Not that I think you did anything. I don't believe you could murder a bunch of innocent people, Ritsu."
"...Who are you?" Takumi asked after a few seconds of staring.
"I'm his friend, J-"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Takumi waved his hand, not wanting to know her name. He looked back at Ritsuka and said, "Where exactly did your Gear come from?"
"I have absolutely no clue. It just came in the mail," Ritsuka answered truthfully. "Actually, somebody left it in a box on the doorsteps of my dorms. I don't know who left it there."
"...Hey, could it have been that guy who left it for you?" Ryoko suggested.
"He-"
"What guy?" Takumi (thankfully) interrupted Ritsuka.
"Ta-kun, stop interrupting people," Keitaro scolded his friend, "And I think they're talking about the new Kamen Rider."
"A new Kamen Rider?"
"That's right, somebody with his own Gear showed up and saved us while we were looking for the two of you. You know, after you left me behind."
"..."
"That my way of asking for an apology," Keitaro said after Takumi remained quiet for a few seconds.
"So, it was this new Rider who gave you your Gear and also killed the chairman?" Takumi glanced at the other two.
"It's looking that way."
"But how did he kill the chairman without a Rider System?" Ritsuka was the only one who realized that something was off about the entire thing. "The news mentioned that a collection of prototypes was stolen. That has to be the Gear he was using."
"He could've stolen it before he killed the chairman," Ryoko said, "He can open those walls so he easily could've taken it."
"You have a point…"
"Walls?" Takumi, the only person who was not aware of their status as dimensional travelers, asked.
"Oh boy… This is going to take a while…"
Sometime later…
"So let me get this straight, you-" Takumi gave Ritsuka a look of disbelief, "-are a Kamen Rider from another dimension who's fleeing from groups of monsters that descended onto your world with the mission to assassinate you before you got powers."
"Yes."
"And currently, you and your classmates are traveling through parallel worlds in search of… What again?"
"We have no idea either," Ryoko admitted, "All we know is that whoever saved us just was probably involved."
"...Do I look as gullible as Keitaro?"
"Hey!" Keitaro shouted, taking offense to that.
"Yes."
"I- Hey!" Takumi, however, did not expect a dead-serious response from Ritsuka. Next to him, Keitaro had to stifle a laugh.
"Look, whether you believe us or not doesn't matter. At the end of the day, someone stole the Delta Gear and no one knows where he is," Ritsuka said, "All I'm asking is that we team up to stop him from… doing whatever it is he's planning."
"Are we he's up to something?" Keitaro asked. "He did save me and your friends. Isn't there a chance that he's actually a good guy?"
"You're forgetting that he killed the boss of Smart Brain to get his Gear. Good intentions or not, he's got to pay for that," Ritsuka told everyone.
"I'm not saying you're wrong… Fujimura."
"It's Fujimaru," he corrected Takumi with a small huff.
"While you're not wrong, how are we supposed to track this thief down when we don't know his name or how he even looks like?"
"...Let me get back to you with that," Ritsuka replied, causing Takumi to let out a frustrated sigh.
Ryoko, on the other hand, had a better idea. "You know what? It's not smart to brainstorm on an empty stomach. Why don't we have late lunch first before we start planning anything?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm hungry, okay? In case you forgot Ritsu, we didn't get the chance to eat just now."
"...Yeah, sure." Ritsuka agreed with her, "I haven't eaten yet either."
"Ooh! I'll cook for you guys." Keitaro instantly volunteered, getting a look of exasperation from Takumi.
"We can't let you do that, you're a guest," Ryoko said before giving Ritsuka a hard look, "Ritsu, you cook. It's punishment for ditching us."
The teen in a suit shrugged in response, "Sure. Let me get changed first."
"Go ahead, we'll get turn on the stove while you change."
Upstairs…
As a result of him helping assassinate the Fangire King, Taiga had repaid Ritsuka by filling up the latter's house with furniture, including his room, and a generous sum of money.
Ritsuka's bedroom was now furnished with a proper bed, an average-sized wardrobe, a desk, and a telescope by the window (which had come out of his own allowance along with the photography equipment downstairs).
After switching to a simple pink (not magenta) t-shirt and black pants, Ritsuka hung the barely used suit into his new wardrobe and closed it. He turned around and his neutral expression immediately changed to a frown.
"Care to explain yourself?" Ritsuka asked the cloaked man who was looking around his room.
"I haven't been in here yet," the young man in black replied, ignoring Ritsuka's question while standing at his new desk and picking up a picture frame. "Wow, you really are bad at taking photos."
"Give me that," Ritsuka grumbled as he took the picture away from him. The teen could not help but glance at the photo he put inside though and stare at the photograph of Ryoko and Tetsuya that he took on the last day of their world.
"Hey, don't get sentimental on me. We have lots to talk about," The other man spoke up.
"We do," Ritsuka (reluctantly) agreed with him and put down the picture frame, "First, did you kill that Akaibara guy?"
"Of course I did. Who else could've broken into that building without alerting anyone?"
"Why?"
"It wasn't my attention to kill him," answered the masked man, "He was just standing in between me and my mission."
"Mission? What sort of mission involved killing some guy I interacted with once?"
"Correcting your mistake, that's what." Ritsuka could feel the glare the masked man was giving him from underneath his mask. "I remember outright telling you not to give the case to anybody. Yet, you ignored me and handed the Delta Gear to that guy and didn't look back."
"In my defense, I was already about to meet him and they knew I had it with me. I couldn't just chuck it out the window or anything," Ritsuka said, "Now that I think about it, why didn't you come in and take it while I was alone? Could've saved us from…" There was not a problem yet so Ritsuka did not finish his sentence.
"Do you think I'm with you 24/7? Sorry to break it to you, I've got other things I need to take care of."
"Such as?" Ritsuka pressed him for an explanation.
"Snooping around, looking after this place, keeping an eye on the Counter Force, making sure there's no evidence of you running around. You know, the important stuff that you can't do."
"Was that last part really necessary?" Ritsuka grumbled before asking, "And what's the Counter Force?"
He felt like he's heard the phrase somewhere before…
"It's nothing that you should worry about yet, especially not in the state it's in," the masked man answered and muttered under his breath, "Thought it would be fine after a few years…"
"What was that?"
"I said nothing," the cloaked man quickly said.
"...I need you to answer something for me." Ritsuka stared at the other man.
"What? Was the last twenty or so questions not enough for you?"
"How did you know that Tetsuya's and Ryoko's world was ending? You warned me the night before that something was going to happen and you were right."
"I keep my ears to wall and eyes to the sky. If you do that, you would figure things out before others do," the man answered. "Oh wait, you did do that, didn't you? You also knew that something was going to happen."
"...What are you planning, really?" Ritsuka did not respond to his comment and continued to interrogate the masked man. "Since you've always remained one step ahead-"
"About ten steps, actually."
"You know what's going to happen," Ritsuka accused, "You want something from my journey and I want to know what it is."
"You'll find out in due time, when you reach the world I want you to reach." The other young man flicked his wrist and opened an Aurora Curtain between them.
"Hey! Don't go yet!" Ritsuka slammed his hands against the translucent wall as the one on the other side let out a short and small laugh.
"Just get to cooking already, I've got other things to take care of," he said before disappearing along with the wall, leaving a frustrated Ritsuka behind.
Meanwhile, downstairs…
"..."
"Um, Takumi-san? What's wrong?" Ryoko asked the main Rider of this world, who had been staring into the distance while sitting at the dining table.
"Don't worry about him, Ryoko-chan," Keitaro told her. Despite Ryoko's insistence, he had borrowed an apron and started cooking. "He sometimes does that."
"If you say so."
"Hey... Jindo."
"It's Jindai," the girl corrected.
"Has Fujimura ever met the guy you were talking about?" Takumi asked, misnaming Ritsuka again.
"I don't think so," Ryoko answered, "He's never mentioned anything to us about him."
"...How long have you known him?" Takumi continued asking her.
"Two and a half years. Met him when he enrolled into our school after he… Well, Tetsu and I have known him for a long time."
"And you three are best friends?"
"Yup. Don't listen to what Ritsuka has to say about, he's lying when he says neither of us is his best friend," Ryoko told Takumi, recalling hers and Tetsuya's conversation with Ritsuka on the rooftop of their high school over a week ago.
"Then even best friends keep secrets from each other…" Takumi muttered too low for Ryoko to hear.
The sound of a door slamming from upstairs followed by heavy footsteps signaled that Ritsuka was on his way back down. Sure enough, less than a minute later, the black-haired boy opened the door to the living room with a sour look on his face.
"I'm back," he announced his return with a flat tone.
"Hey," Ryoko gave him a small wave. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Ritsuka answered as he walked over to Keitaro, grabbing and putting on the extra apron on the way.
At the table, Takumi stared at his back with an unreadable expression as Ritsuka took over most of the cooking duty. Ryoko noticed the brunette boy's staring and was about to ask him something when the sound of a phone ringing filled the air.
"Oh, sorry. It's mine," Keitaro said as he stepped away from the kitchen part of the room and took out his phone from his pocket. "Hello? Yes, this is Kitsugi Keitaro. Oh. I see. Confiscate? Why? ...Yes, thank you for telling me this. Two days from now will be fine."
Keitaro hung up and sighed.
"Who was that?" Ryoko asked him. She did have an idea as to who it was though.
"It was the police. They found my van abandoned in the middle of the city and had it taken for investigation," Keitaro answered.
"They did not ask why you weren't driving it or anything?" Ritsuka asked as he put the lid over the pot and let the curry boil for a bit.
"No, they think someone had stolen it for some reason," Keitaro said, "Somebody had reported it missing a couple of hours ago."
Somebody? Ritsuka had a sneaking suspicion that somebody was the most irritating man in the world(s).
"They took the clothes that were inside as evidence. If they find nothing, they'll return them," Keitaro said further.
"And the van?" Ryoko asked.
"The police didn't say anything about it, actually. I'll have to wait for tomorrow," Keitaro replied before walking out of the room. "Sorry, but I have to call my customers and tell them what happened to their laundry."
"..." During the entire exchange, Takumi had remained quiet and stared at Ritsuka. He had thought of taking him to the side and questioning him about some things but now that Keitaro had left, he decided to let the matter lie for a bit...
An hour later...
"That should be enough," Ritsuka hummed after sipping a bit of the curry from the ladle. "Hey, pass over that bowl," He told Keitaro, who had finished calling all (and dealing with) his customers not too long ago.
At the dining table, Ryoko was chatting with Tetsuya, who was awakened by the alluring and delicious scent of food. "You sure you're alright? Your leg was bleeding pretty badly earlier."
"I'm fine, there's no need to worry," Tetsuya replied. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it did. Thanks again, Kitsugi-san!"
"No problem!" Keitaro shouted back.
"Still, you should take it easy for the rest of the day," Ryoko advised Tetsuya, "Better to not put any pressure on your leg."
"I know, I know." After what happened, he was fine with staying back for a while and not getting his leg hurt again.
"Here, lunch," Ritsuka said as he put a large bowl of piping hot curry on the wooden table. The spicy scent of it filled the air and their noses.
"Finally…" Ryoko felt like drooling, her stomach growling.
"And here's the rice," announced Keitaro as he carried an equally large bowl to the table, "Too bad Mari is busy with work. She would love to join us."
"Because she can be a glutton," Takumi immediately said without a second thought. Ignoring the annoyed cry of "Ta-kun!" from Keitaro, his eyes were focused on the curry bowl. More specifically, the steam that was radiating off of it. "...Hot."
He could feel his tongue burning just by looking at it.
"Don't just look at it, eat," Ritsuka said as he sat down.
"..."
"Please excuse him, Ta-kun doesn't do well with hot food," Keitaro apologized for his friend. "He'll wait a while before eating."
"Great, more for me then," said Ryoko, going to take a large serving for herself.
"Leave some for the rest, Ryoko!"
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
While Ritsuka and the others were "enjoying" lunch, the cloaked man was doing his own investigating on some things that needed to be dealt with.
Right now, he was in an underground building, looking around with a flashlight. It was a good thing he kept most of his face covered as there were lots of dust flying around in the air.
"Where is it… Where is it…" He muttered to himself as he delved deeper into the dark and dusty halls, pointing his flashlight at the doors and reading their labels.
After some time, he eventually found the door he was looking for and entered it. He scanned the room with his flashlight and was satisfied that he was in the right place. Rusty desks and chairs were piled up around the classroom with the biggest pile in the middle.
"Well then, time to start digging," the young man sighed to himself before he started moving the chairs and desk away. What he came there for was underneath the stacks of school furniture. A couple of minutes later, he was successful in moving them away and stared at the two cases on the ground in front of him.
"Surprise it's still together after all these years." Then again, the fact this entire underground school was still standing after over 20 years of disuse and what had happened was a miracle in its own right. Regardless though, he needed to make sure that the items he was looking for were actually inside the cases.
He picked the two cases up and placed them on a couple of nearby tables and opened one of them. His lips perked up into a small smirk as he looked at the contents of the first case.
"Kaixa, huh?" The cloaked man removed and inspected the black-and-gold Kaixa Phone. As far as he could tell, it and its accompanying Driver and weapons were in a good condition. "Then this one has to be…"
He opened the second case and his smirk grew larger. Reaching inside, he pulled out another cellphone that was identical to the one Takumi had.
"The Faiz Gear…"
Next time on Across the Kaleidoscope
"Watch out!"
"This is quite the pickle you got yourself into, isn't it?"
"How? How is this possible?!"
"Another… Faiz?"
Chapter 12: Justifiable Ends
A/N: A much more shorter chapter this time. Why? Because I don't have many ideas about what to put in this chapter. At least there was a fight. That's good enough, right?
There's nothing else to really talk about (that I remember, anyway) so I'm going to talk about my writing style for a bit. Generally, I am mostly a pantser. For those who don't know what that means, a pantser is someone who writes without much forethought as to future storylines. It's how I write JTR, it's also how I write GKRIC. However, this time is a bit different. Mostly, I just plan what order the Rider Worlds will come in as well as some plotlines I want to do in those arcs.
The problem with this sort of writing is that foreshadowing future plot points is nearly non-existent because those future plot points have not been thought up yet. Recently, I've been thinking of changing things up a bit. As suggested by some other fanfic writers on Reddit, I want to try and write things out of order (i.e. the Ryuki arc even though that's not coming for, like, 4 more worlds).
The reason I don't feel like doing this is 'cause that would end up delaying updates since the next chapter would not be written for a while. A big upside to this though is that foreshadowing would be coming would be better and the story would be more connected.
TLDR; I want to write the stuff I really, really want to do and that would delay things for a bit but the story might end up better for it. What are your thoughts on it?
EDIT: Just some minor touch-ups. Missed some of the stuff I meant to replace with the horizontal lines.